Donkey Kong (Film)
Donkey Kong is a computer-animated film released by Mayfield Pictures and Nintendo Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first film in the Nintendo Cinematic Universe (NCU) and was a testing ground for the big project. The film premiered at the Fox Theater. Plot In the jungles of Kongo Bongo, there was a research facility created by the New Donk Zoo. Hunters would go out and find animals to shoot with a tranquilizer dart, and examined, before being sent back into the wild. The hunters discover a baby ape (named Donkey Kong Jr.) and shoot it. His parents (Donkey Kong Sr. and Wrinkly Kong) look for him. After the Kongs lose a battle with the humans, Donkey Kong exclaims that he won't leave with his son, but gets shot in the butt by Mario (Modern Day Mario's Dad). DK & DKJ are taken to the New Donk Zoo but in the possession of Mario. Mario and his work friends from the carpentry shop spot the Kongs balancing on barrels. They come up with the idea to build a circus, with a loan from the bank. Mario mistreats DK before and after performances. When Mario and his wife Pauline (Modern Day Pauline's Mom, which means Pauline II, Mario and Luigi are siblings) go to the zoo, when Donkey Kong gets a devises a revenge plan from another gorilla in the zoo. He kidnaps Pauline, and Mario (Though loses most of the battles) wins the war. Mario shuts down the circus and takes Donkey Kong to the hospital. Mario is then pressured by the zoo operator that he abused the ape, which is why he went bananas (Pun intended). Mario lies. Donkey Kong Jr. goes back to Kongo Bongo to tell his friend Funky Kong about the situation, so he can build a plane. Donkey Kong Jr. tells his father about the good news. The stress gets to Mario so much, he enters a competition to go on a getaway cruise. He loses and goes crazy. Mario gets so bad that he takes it on Donkey Kong, and locks him up over a crocodile pen, threatening to kill him Donkey Kong Jr. saves him, and Mario is sent to prison for 10 years for animal abuse. With her husband in prison for a decade, Pauline has no choice, but to tell the storks to deliver her babies somewhere else. Though the adventure for Mario and Pauline is over, the adventure for the Kongs is far from over. Funky flies out from Kongo Bongo to save the Donkey duo. As they try to board the plane, the zookeepers attack the Kongs. Luckily, Funky knew something like this would happen, so he brings the general of the Kongo Bongo army, Commander Kong. Commander Kong exclaims to attack. The gorillas of the pen attack the humans, while the Kongs escape. Donkey, Jr., Commander, and Funky crash land in different places. Jr., Commander, and Funky land in a baseball stadium, home of the New Donk Ballcaps. Donkey Kong lands in a greenhouse, home of Stanley the Bugman. As the trio of Kongs escape out of the stadium, they are chased by animal control. Donkey Kong sends an army of bugs to attack Stanley. Stanley easily beats the ape, as he calls animal control. The animal control captures all four of the Kongs. The quartet is all transported back to the zoo, and Funky goes crazy because he can't find material to build a plane. Donkey Kong Jr. talks to Funky Kong rationally about escaping. They develop a plan to find a place with plane building material. The quartet eventually escapes and finds plane building material, and a month later, they fly back to Kongo Bongo. Production After the deal had struck, Nintendo, Mayfield, Warner Bros., and Warner Animation Group all collaborated to make the first film in the shared universe. Nintendo opened up a film division called "Nintendo Studios". This first film would be a testing ground but would have to pump out films even if this would become a failure. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword mini-series was quickly developed, along with The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Metroid, Yoshi's Island, and somewhat Kirby's Dreamland. Nintendo was skeptical about having Donkey Kong be the kickoff film, especially because of his minimal popularity, but was nonetheless greenlit because it was Nintendo's first big hit. Not the first game, but the first "big hit". Marketing Because Donkey Kong wasn't really popular with the kids, all of the marketing material featured the tagline "King Kong for the kids", and featured Mario on all the marketing material. Since Mayfield signed a contract with Burger King to promote Mayfield movies, Burger King released a 6-toy-set in their kid's meals that featured Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario, Pauline, Stanley, and Funky Kong. Mayfield and Nintendo struck a deal with Coca-Cola, which was a chance to see the film at Nintendo World in NYC the Wednesday before it's release, which many would enter, but only 20 would win. Release The film was given a PG Rating for mild violence, mild language, and strong themes. The film received controversy because of the abuse scenes, which were deemed too violent, and heavy for it's PG Rating. The Scenes involved Mario whipping Donkey Kong, while not actually shown on screen, but very violent, and confusing for younger audiences. Nintendo Studios took notice of the controversies and came out saying that it was essentially the plot of the original game. Reception Box Office Results Donkey Kong was an overwhelming success at the box office because most of the money came from adult gamers who were fans of Donkey Kong. It grossed over $80 million domestically, and over $120 million worldwide ($60 million came from Japan), making a grand total of $200,002,807. Critical Response Donkey Kong was an overwhelming success critically. It received an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 6.9 rating on IMDb, and a 63% on Metacritic. Audiences (mostly the fans of the games) also gave this film their seal of approval. With the Box Office Numbers and the Critical Response, Nintendo greenlit the shared universe project. Donkey Kong Country Despite being named Donkey Kong Country, and being connected, Donkey Kong Country is not a "sequel" to Donkey Kong. Home Release Donkey Kong was released on DVD and Blu-Ray 4 months after it's theatrical release. To promote the home release, Hardee's released a 4-toy-set in their kid's meals. The film's first air on Television was on Cartoon Network, which was to help promote to mini-series finale of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. After that, the film was aired on CW.